Sahara Media to distribute LandscapeHD in Africa

Sahara Media to distribute LandscapeHD in Africa

Rebecca Hawkes | 31-07-2013

Tanzania's Sahara Media Group is to distribute the linear 1080p Landscape Channel direct-to-home (DTH) in full high definition (HD) beginning this autumn, in what the television channel is claiming is a first for Africa.

LandscapeHD – a free-to-air instrumental music channel showcasing the beauty of the natural world – will be available via satellite in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Mozambique and Burundi.
The channel is funded by national Government tourism and brand advertising, in a 'languageless' format previously used on the Internet. It will now be delivered to traditional television homes using its new proprietary mini-server IP distribution system, connected to cable, satellite or connected TV services.
"This unique distribution system is expected to deliver a raft of new specialist music channels into traditional television distribution over the coming 12 months, as distributors discover how this new technology can deliver specialist music channels anywhere in the world, without the traditional costs associated with broadcast servers and rights societies determined to squeeze the life out of minority music channels by the charges they levy for specialist music at the same rate as pop music," said a statement from the Landscape Channel.